Carrots have long been said to be good for your vision. Now, it has emerged, they can also improve the fertility of men.

Researchers investigating the effect of fruit and vegetables on the health of sperm discovered that carrots produced the best all-round results.

They had the greatest effect on ‘motility’ – a term used to describe the ability of sperm to swim towards an egg.

Recipe for super sperm? A new study found many yellow and orange-coloured fruit and vegetables improved men's fertility, but the humble carrot produced the best all-round results

Researchers at Harvard University in
the US asked almost 200 young men to follow diets containing a variety
of fruit and veg before testing to see what effect it had on sperm.

Yellow and orange foods were found to help make the sperm stronger.

The
boost was attributed to pigments called carotenoids because the body
converts some of these into health-boosting antioxidants.

These include beta-carotene, which the body can make into the antioxidant vitamin A.

The sperm-boosting qualities come from chemicals called carotenoids, which give such foods their familiar colour

Antioxidants
help to neutralise free radicals, destructive groups of atoms that are a
by-product of metabolism and can damage cell membranes and DNA.

Sweet
potato and melon can enhance the quantity and quality of sperm, but
carrots were found to improve sperm performance by between 6.5 and 8 per
cent, according to a report in the journal Fertility and Sterility.